Obon holiday exodus begins at Narita airport

Planes departing from Narita international airport were full Friday as the Obon holiday exodus got under way.

Airport officials said the three days from Friday to Sunday will be the peak departure days, TBS reported. Saturday is expected to be the busiest day, with 48,800 travelers leaving from the airport, Narita officials said.

Travel agents estimate that up to 2 million people will travel abroad between Friday and Aug 17, when the return rush is expected.

Meanwhile, JR said that it expects shinkansen trains to be packed on Saturday and Sunday.

The airports will be like zoos. This is one of the worst times to travel... long check-in lines, long baggage check lines, long passport control lines, packed waiting areas and the bonus of having paid a premium to have these thrills added to your day. Oh, don't forget the summer heat!

We took our holiday three weeks ago and the airport was nice and empty, as were the places we visited.
Next week I will enjoy a bit of peace and quiet whilst too many others are sitting in 50 km traffic jams, or paying three times the price for the same flights we took. Why do they do it?

Unlike many of us in the rest of the world, I'm told the "locals" here in Japan actually like line ups and crowds and makes them feel comfortable that if others are there too, then it is the right thing to do......

Yeah - I sometimes don't believe the Japanese really have a holiday because they want to. It's more like they feel obliged to (because everyone else is) and they understand that it's a time to boost the economy of tourist areas by emptying their pockets and work bonuses on overpriced tat and hotels.

Alternatively, they go to the US or Europe for 4 days, which involves being jetlagged for two, and running round visiting ten museums and art galleries a day while taking way too many photos of walls and pavements. It'll be alright though, with what Abe and co. have in store, they'll be working 360+ days a year and marching/singing Kimigayo on their days off fairly soon.

It's always the kechi gaijin making smart aleck comments about travelling when it's busy.I'm sure many Japanese would travel during your much cheaper price et al,if they could.That's the beauty of being a chain school worker,you can have a month off no probs.So good for yous.

@hoser i wouldnt say hysterically!? just a litte giggle that so many poor suckers have no choice but to go on vacation when theyre told not when they want. or worse still like going on vacation with millions of others. there is nothing worse than visiting the same place with 1000s of people all crammed into a small space, especially in summer. its more like a slow torture than a vacation.

Cricky, I am gonna try and kick over an ant hill next time, now that sounds like good fun, rather than going out to Narita and wasting my time drinking beer pool side over in Guam, Thailand, Cebu, Hawaii etc...now where to find a good ant hill!!